This is the chapter where I began disregarding canon entirely because I just want it to be over :')

I'm far more interested in the aftermath of the arc than the actual action of it, once again I'm terrible at writing action. Please don't be too mad at me if I gloss over some important things or save them for the next chapter, this fic was ultimately always going to be a love story so the reunion is more important than anything else.

Morgan had left her phone down on the kitchen counter when she went on a walk and when she came home she found Beans trying to take a nap on it.

"Sorry, Beans, I need that."

"Where's Booker?" Obake asked. He was sipping reheated coffee from a Steven Universe mug.

"He had some stuff to handle back at his place, he's bringing us dinner around seven, though. How goes it?" Morgan retrieved her phone, to Beans' displeasure, and checked her notifications.

"About ready to test the lasers. Do you need any upgrades to the wingsuit?"

"No, Seth's work is flawless."

"What about the baseball bat? Are you sure you don't want an upgraded weapon? Liv is going to be ruthless, and we may have only one chance to get our loved ones back."

"Our? Loved ones?" Morgan raised her eyebrows at him and he turned away.

"Why do you have so much tea if you don't drink it?"

Morgan thought about the fight in chapter eight, cringed, and also turned away. She went back to checking her phone and noticed a voicemail from her mom. Her mom didn't like texting, she always called and left voicemails if the call didn't go through.

"Hi, mija, no worries, but I was wondering about the man I saw you with earlier? I know you didn't see me and you seemed to be pretty deep in conversation. It's your business, of course, I just was hoping that you weren't doing something behind Seth's back. I love you, get back to me when you have a chance."

Dalton was more forward, texting her that he hoped that Seth was okay and to ask her what she was doing with Sadie's coworker.

Morgan sank to the ground, realizing it had not occurred to her how she would be perceived by the people who actually knew and cared about her. Obake insinuating that she was cheating on Seth was one thing, but for Dalton and her mom to happen to see her and assume the same thing was like a knife in the chest. Their relationship was still new, still fragile. Morgan felt terrible.

"Did you really think I was cheating on Seth with Booker?"

"No? I mean, I don't care enough to think about that kind of thing. I was taunting you. Why does it matter? You're not."

"No, you're right… I'm just so worried about them. I never want anyone to doubt how much I love them."

"They'd have to be fucking stupid to think that. You're breaking into a high-security laboratory to rescue Seth, it's pretty clear you love them."

"It's pretty clear you love Kei," Morgan mentioned.

Obake turned away, but Morgan had glimpsed the flustered look on his face.

"And I think she loves you too, man. I mean, she's clearly… Yearning for that connection. Whatever she saw in me and Seth is what she wants with you."

"Well. I think very highly of her. And I'd like to return her to safety."

"That's a good start," Morgan said.

"But if I were interested in, perhaps, dating her, how do you suggest I go about doing that?"

"...You ask her out."

"You're not helping. I'm going to go test the lasers."

"Do it in the yard! But be careful of Seth's garden. They'll kill you themself if you damage their garden."

"Yes, yes, I know how to fire lasers."

Morgan cleared things up with her mom and Dalton, being a bit more honest with Dalton since she didn't want Adrianna knowing Seth was currently missing. Dalton had been incredibly understanding and had reminded her that he and Bennet were there if Morgan needed anything. When Morgan had asked how Sadie was handling things, Dalton stopped answering.

But it was going to be okay. Morgan was going to fix things with Sadie and show the whole world how entirely dedicated to Seth she was. She was going to get her person back. Morgan would do whatever it took to get her person back.

She felt really lucky that she had backup. Kei had offered help and gotten hurt along the way, but Morgan wasn't going to let that happen. She had accepted Booker and Bob's help but she wasn't going to let Liv hurt them. Morgan was fully in fight mode.

Seth was in flight mode. Fantasy could only soothe them for so long, they had the sickening feeling that Morgan was in danger and Seth was desperate to escape and reunite with her. It didn't matter that they were mutated and couldn't communicate. They just wanted to find Morgan and protect her. They would do anything to be able to protect Morgan. And, unfortunately, that meant staying under Liv's thumb. They would have torn all of Big Hero 6 apart if it meant that Morgan remained unharmed. They would have turned on all their friends and family for Morgan. Later, that thought would sicken them but now they could not think of morality, they could only think of Morgan.

Obake worked tirelessly through the night to expand Morgan's arsenal and create an invisibility suit for Booker. They were armed and ready to strike. Morgan was prepared to slide past Sycorax security with invisibility and master hacking and both of them had flashy new weapons. Booker would be firing the buddy guards, made far more efficient by Obake's mastery. Morgan had insisted on wielding the baseball bat but she'd allowed him to add taser capabilities. She had a feeling Seth would approve.

"You may have to incapacitate Seth and Kei," Obake said, not adding that that meant they might have to fight Seth and Kei. Still, Morgan knew what he meant and nodded grimly.

"I'll be careful and do what I have to do. We will bring them home."

"We will," Booker seconded, putting a hand on Morgan's shoulder. He was in the bodysuit, ready to go. At first, this had kind of been another mystery, some real-life true crime. But Morgan had become his friend. He cared now more than just as a citizen who cared about other people, he cared as Morgan's friend. Hopefully, soon he'd be Seth's friend too.

"Don't try anything, Seth. You have a big night tonight, it would be awful if something happened to hurt you or Morgan." Chris was taunting Seth, and Seth couldn't even respond. Seth wanted to shout obscenities at him or beg him for information about Morgan's whereabouts, instead, they could only screech. Was Morgan here? Was Morgan in danger?

Morgan and Booker stealthily infiltrated Sycorax after dark, more like ghosts of vengeance than angels. Their goggles detected heat signatures, so they were aware of each other, but to reassure each other that they were safe they were also holding hands.

Booker squeezed Morgan's hand as she hacked the elevator to get them downstairs. Behind him, the revamped buddy guards floated and Morgan felt almost secure. So far so good. They were going to get in and get Seth and Kei out…

There was only the matter of the mutations. Morgan refused to think about it. It was one thing to gently knock out her life partner and her celebrity crush, it was another thing to try and apply her nonexistent expertise to un-mutate the monsters. She couldn't think about it now. She had to believe that they'd be able to figure something out together.

Still, as she and Booker took the elevator down she had a sinking feeling that whatever happened tonight would change their lives forever.

Chris, Liv's ever-obedient hound, continued to guard Seth and Kei. That was what Seth had decided he was, not a Ken doll but a guard dog on a power trip. Seth got the heebie-jeebies from him, now even more than before.

They could tell he was just biding his time, waiting for the right time to release Seth and Kei on the sleuthing superheroes. Seth had already been made to fight Fred and GoGo. They didn't know what they'd do if they had to put up another fight against people they considered friends. Big Hero 6 was made up of good people but Seth knew that they could do damage. Or Seth could end up damaging the six of them… Either way, it was not ideal. So Seth was biding their time too, hoping for the best and expecting the worst.

But what they weren't expecting was Morgan. That was the worst-case scenario though, wasn't it? Morgan rushing in to be the hero she had always been, only to get mutated. They would have to watch each other suffer, unable to do anything but scream. Seth's head was already filled with these panicked thoughts when Chris noticed their visitor- no, wait. Visitors. Who was that other guy?

From his (?) newly visible build, Seth first expected it to be Wasabi or Dalton. But the muscular frame wasn't as triangular or tall as Wasabi, and he appeared to be a bit taller than Dalton. This mental game of guess that Pokemon distracted Seth briefly from the thought that Morgan was in mortal peril, but then, suddenly, Chris was urging them to attack the only person Seth had ever truly been in love with. Seth would have attacked Big Hero 6, or Obake, or Momakase, or any dangerous badass or unsuspecting citizen in the city, but not Morgan. Enraged by even the thought of being told to hurt Morgan, Seth turned their fury towards Chris. Of course, he didn't care, he controlled the electricity that surged through Seth's body, zapping them anytime they got close to striking him. But Seth struggled still, trying to bring about a sense of vengeance while Morgan handled Kei and the new guy planned his attack.

Seth had just about collapsed when lasers began firing at Chris. That was when they saw the genius of the masked stranger. He was using the buddy guards to attack Chris and protect Morgan. Seth wanted to hug the guy. Instead, exhausted by the repeated electrocutions, they slumped to the floor, barely conscious. Chris was down too, at least, temporarily incapacitated by red hot lasers. The muscular stranger rushed forward and scooped Seth up in his arms, and Seth's head lolled onto his chest.

"I'm gonna see if I can figure out how to undo the mutation," Booker called, setting Seth gently down and careful, respectfully inspecting their mutated body. There was this thing on their neck that seemed to control it. Praying he was doing something right he attempted to pry it off.

The beast in front of him began to shrink and transform, and the appearance of a human returned. Mostly. Seth's torso, arms, legs, face, all were back to normal except the wings hadn't gone away, and Seth's teeth seemed sharper than they probably had been before the mutation. Booker wasn't really sure about that. He assumed Seth hadn't had razor-sharp vampire teeth, but there was never really any knowing with nonbinary people.

The other notable thing about Seth, of course, was that they were naked. Booker covered them with their own bat wings and frantically searched for a better alternative, settling for stripping the shirt and pants off of an unconscious Chris and delicately dressing Seth, hoping that this incident would not make things too weird when they were properly introduced.

Only then did Booker remember Morgan.

"Morgan! There should be this kind of implant thingy that controls the mutation! If you pull it out then Kei should mostly return to normal!"

"What do you mean mostly?" Morgan asked, swinging her taser bat at Kei and muttering apologies to her idol in the same breath.

"Uh… Just trust me."

A few more well-placed swings and Morgan was able to get the upper hand on Kei enough to remove the implant. Like Seth, Kei's un-mutation was incomplete, leaving behind sharp teeth and some purple blotches on her skin. Unlike Seth, Kei was conscious when Morgan un-mutated her and so she found her own clothes, finding some spare lab coats in a room in the corner.

Morgan rushed over to Seth and let the scene wash over her. There was Seth, exhausted, thoroughly beaten, and stuck with part of an awful mutation. But they were alive, which was the only thing that really mattered. Morgan didn't allow herself to think about how Seth was stuck with bat wings. Right now she was too relieved to have Seth back and too intent on getting her partner home.

Question of The Week- What animal-like mutation would you want to keep, permanently?

For me, bat wings sound fun but a rat tail could also be cool.